Silk Way Rally Stage 9: Ürümqi-Hami “The golden dunes” - video
Despres and Castera conquer the sweltering heat and first dunes of the 2016 Silk Way Rally, while Airat Mardeev took the win to close up to the back bumper of category leader Martin Van Den Brink.
#314 Kamaz: Andrey Karginov, Alexander Kupriyanov, Igor Leonov
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The highs and the lows
Temperatures on stage 9, Ürümqi – Hami, of the 2016 Silk Way Rally reached 55° Celsius as the competitors passed by one of the lowest points on Earth, at the dry Lake Ayding, in the Turpan-Hami Depression. Cyril Despres and David Castera (Peugeot DKR 2008) set best time to push their overall lead to 12’17” from second in the stage, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. The nine-time world rally champions lost nearly 10 minutes digging out of the sand, but recovered to finish second on the day at 05’19”to the leaders.
Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret in the third French entry completed the day’s podium at 08’29” Yazeed Al Rahji and Timo Glottschalk, were fourth at 11’40” to move past, fellow MINI competitors, Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhilstov into third overall. Harry Hunt and Adreas Schulz completed the Top 5 and are now also fifth overall.
T2 At a glance…
Akira Muira and Laurent Lichtleuchter (Toyota VDJ200) extended their lead in T2 with another best time in the category. Denis Berezovskiy and Ignat Falkov finished second at 06’21” and now trail Muira and Lichtleuchter by 53’31” in the general classification.
Game on between VDB, Mardeev and Sotnikov
02”07 is all that separates the top three in the truck category. Airat Mardeev’s Stage 9 victory puts the Russian at 01’41” to overall leader Martin Van Den Brink. Third on the day, Dmitry Sotnikov now trails the Dutchman by 02’07”. Edouard Nikolaev was second on the stage, while Anton Shibalov made it a Kamaz-Master sweep of the top four positions. Van Den Brink lost a bundle of time after the dunes. The Renault went into safety mode as to not overheat the motor, but completed the Top 5 at 28’51”.
Tomorrow: Stage 10 of the 2016 Silk Way Rally, between Hami and Dunhuang (525,24 km with 340,40 km of special stage) will be another scorcher featuring dirt tracks, wadi crossings and canyons with plenty of stones along the side of the tracks to pay attention to. And the days timed sector will peak at close to 2,000 metres above sea level.
Upcoming program
Route
15 legs, 10.734,89 kms, 4.105,05 kms of selective section (*)
China
19/07 Leg 10: Hami-Dunhuang « The track to caves » - 484,33 kms
20/07 Leg 11: Dunhuang-Jiayuguan «The 4.000 lakes track » - 561,11 kms
21/07 Leg 12: Jiayuguan-Alashan « Big desert » - 666,92 kms
22/07 Leg 13: Alashan-Wuhai « The mines road » - 724,89 kms
23/07 Leg 14: Wuhai-Hohhot « The right Heading… » - 755,42 kms
24/07 Leg 15: Hohhot-Beijing « The great wall » - 507,68 kms
02.00 pm – 06.00 pm Prize Giving Podium Ceremony in Beijing
*subject to modification by Silk Way Rally organisers.
Silk Way Rally
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